Dreamcatchers
by AsteriaKimeNymar
Summary: Her death left a mark on him. Gave him nightmares. But he didn't expect a certain Sacaen boy to cheer him up. "Who are you and what have you done to Guy to worry about me?" And his answers surprised him. Takes place near the end of FE7.


Meep.

So sorry I've been a little...dead. But school's been a thing, and I haven't had too much time to finish stuff.

Anyways...how did this happen? Oh, right. I had read a new chapter for a story I've been following that hadn't been updated in about...a year. And reading it randomly gave me the desire to write something for Elibe, so...this happened. Yup...And it's ridiculously short for me, so...that's also a thing.

Um...what was I going to say? Oh. I see Sacae as a mixture between Japanese and Native American culture...of course, most people probably do...but anyways! Yeah. Just so you know.

This involves Matt and Guy. It's only a couple if you want it to be.

Disclaimer: I don't own any FE characters or elements...or the beauty that is the legend of the Dreamcatchers.

* * *

It had been nearly four months since she died.

She had been the center of his world. His true love. But then the assassins known as the Black Fang took her away from him and shattered that world.

He vowed to avenge her. He said he would shed no tears until the deed was repaid a hundred fold. The Fang would not live to see the 'war's' end.

And yet...he couldn't do it. He couldn't kill the one who killed her. He thought to himself, _She...wouldn't really want me to do this, would she...?_...So he didn't.

His name...Matthew. Hers, Leila. He loved her. And she, him. Now that she was gone, and her memory finally at peace, he had fallen into a depression that worried any and all who knew him best.

It was...unsettling to see him that way. He was a man for jokes and pranks, a smile always on his face. Now...well, he definitely made others concerned for his well-being.

There was one in particular who worried more than the rest, which was very surprising, seeing as how he happened to very often be the butt of the thief's jokes. Yet he still cared enough to try to cheer him up, despite the embarrassment he always caused him.

His name was Guy. A young, prideful swordsman of the Sacaen Plains. He never thought he would ever have sympathy for Matthew, given the humiliating past that involved him. Still...he had owed the man his life at first, and...over the time they had spent together, he had come to...care, even if just a little. He still hated him for the debt and trouble he caused him. That much wouldn't go away anytime soon. But...he cared enough to not be able to stand him not being his obnoxious self.

What his problem was...was just how he could help him. His talents were few and far between, that he would admit. He wasn't one for prettied words of comfort or something that would make things better in a fortnight. It just wasn't his style.

But...there was one thing he knew how to do that maybe, just maybe could work. Something...he had learned to make back in Sacae. Something of his heritage. Something that would give a bit of comfort to those who believed in it. And so, he set out to make it, inwardly praying it would work.

*Page Break*

A light knock on the door. It was...hesitant. Matthew sighed and rolled over in his bed to face away from the door. "...Come in," he said quietly after a few moments.

Guy hesitantly opened the door, the other hand holding something behind his back as he took a couple steps into the room, enough to be no longer hiding behind the door.

"...Close the door."

He did as instructed.

"...What do you want."

The Sacaen struggled to find the right words to start, eyes staring at the floor, and just ended up muttering, "Um...hey."

Matthew eventually turned back around, his eyes showing surprise upon seeing who his guest was. "What are you doing, Guy?" He closed his eyes. "No. Any challenge you want will have to wait."

"What?" Guy's head shot back up, as if in offence. "Why would I be here for that? Do you think I'm that...that..."

"Inconsiderate?" The elder of the two finished in question after seeing the younger having trouble with the proper translation, now propped up on an elbow. "...Yeah. Kind of. That's just about the only thing you ever talk to me about, after all."

"Th-That's not true!" the teen blurted out. "That's no where near it, and you know it!"

"...Relax. I wasn't saying it to get you to yell at me."

"I..." After seeing his mistake, he quickly looked away. "...G-...Gomen'nasai. I...didn't come here intending to snap like that. Forgive me."

"...Fine. You're forgiven...What did you come in here for, then?"

"I..." He let out a breath, trying to calm his nerves. "I've...been worried, is all. About...you."

Matthew was now at full attention, sitting up completely in his bed. "Worried? ...That's a new one. Who are you and what have you done with Guy to worry about me?"

"What?" Guy quickly looked back up. "What...what makes you think I never have been? I just..." He looked away again. "I...didn't know what to do. You...You know I'm not good at saying the right thing, clearly. I...didn't want to make things worse."

"Then..." the assassin raised a hand, his face clearly saying 'And what does that have to do with right now?', "why are you here now?"

"Because I don't want to see things getting any worse for you!" The swordmaster gave him one of the hard stares that his people were known for and he was quickly growing into. "Yeah, I get it. You loved her. You still do. And her death was unfair. I get that. But locking yourself away from anyone and letting yourself spiral downwards into despair isn't going to make things any better. I may not have known her, sure, but I'm pretty sure she wouldn't want you doing this to yourself!"

Though at first caught off guard by the boy's outburst, Matthew sighed and laid back on his bed, arms behind his head. "Do you...know how it feels? When...all you needed to do was say one tiny thing...do one small act...and maybe they would still be alive?"

"...Otō-sama..."

His head turned to face the other. "What?"

"...My father." Guy stood still and straight, his expression calmer, but still staring. "He's dead because of me. I was reckless. Thought I could take on more than I could handle when I was eight...He died protecting me. So don't think I haven't felt that. Because I have. I..." He let his head droop and his voice falter. "I had relived that moment...so many nights. That maybe...maybe if I had been better...or if I hadn't been so foolish...he would still be here."

"...'Had'?" Matthew raised an eyebrow, then turned his head to stare back up at the ceiling. "...How could you stop? Was if because it had been so long since it happened?" He closed his eyes. "...When I sleep, I...I always see her body, bloodied and pale, with an expression as if she had died in eternal torment..."

"...It...was because it meant leaving you."

"...I've figured that. But...it doesn't make the nightmares go away..."

"..." Guy sighed lightly and took a few steps over to the bed, finally moving his hand out from behind his back to reveal a small, beautifully woven circular decoration, with strings entwined into a web, leaving a hole in the center, and feathers hanging underneath it, adding further to its beauty. "I...haven't been having them because...I've always had something like this with me."

The assassin turned his head; his eyes widened slightly upon seeing the object, making him sit up. "What is that?"

"This..." The teen nodded to the bed. "Um...can I?"

"Oh...sure." He scooted over enough in the bed to allow the younger one of them to sit on its edge.

"This..." Guy moved it so the elder could better see it, "this is a Dreamcatcher. We...have this legend, in Sacae. If it's put above your head at night, it will bring you nothing but sweet dreams."

"Oh...really?"

"Yeah. The legend goes...that the air is filled with both good and bad dreams. Good dreams will pass through the center to the sleeping person, while the bad dreams will be caught in the web, where they perish in the light of the dawn."

"Huh. And it works for you?"

"Yes...It always has." He held it closer to the man. "...Here. It's...for you."

"What?" Matthew hesitantly put a hand underneath it, only barely touching the web. "But...it's yours, isn't it? Why would you...?"

Guy chuckled, a surprising reaction. "I'm the one who made this one...recently. I still have the one my mother made for me as a child. This one...I made for you."

"You...?"

"It's..." the boy looked away, a light blush seeming to creep upon his face, "It's to make sure you're...y'know...sleeping right and all..."

Now it was Matthew's turn to chuckle, the first time he had in a while, foreign as it sounded to him. "There's the Guy I know. Not the quiet and kind one that was just here a few moments ago."

"Wha-" The swordmaster's head snapped back; his cheeks puffed out in irritation, an act that the assassin somehow found oddly...charming. "Why you-!"

"Ha...!"

*Page Break*

Within the next week, Matthew was up and moving around again, back to his old tricks of hiding people's belongings and causing overall mayhem.

Everyone knew that Guy was the last person with him before he went back to normal. They always asked him how he did it. And his response was always the same. "Ah..." He put a finger to his lips. "I apologize, but though the people of Sacae tell no lies..." he winked, "we still prefer to keep our secrets."


End file.
